“Dom, you know it’s impossible to be someone’s girlfriend if you’re too shy to even talk to the guy.” Victoire told me expertly. “I know Teddy. We were together in fifth year. He won’t ask someone out unless he’s sure the girl likes him.”

Victoire and I were in the slowly emptying Great Hall, talking quietly. We were trying to keep as far away from Teddy Lupin as possible because, well, we were talking about him.

Apparently, I have a crush on Teddy Lupin and my dearest sister Victoire is helping me impress him since she had been with him last year. No worries, they broke up. I sort of knew that they weren’t right for each other, anyway. Nah, never mind- I was just jealous.

“Hey Vic, you know what? I’ll approach him this afternoon and say hello.” I said. Victoire rolled her eyes.

“Dom, you say hello to him every day. Even at summer, he’s a great family friend and Uncle Harry’s godson so you see him regularly! Of course you say hello!” she answered impatiently.

What? I never really was good at impressing guys. “You have to say more than hello. You have to talk to him more than just a family friend. Talk to him as a really good friend. You get me?” she continued, pushing her hair behind her ears though I knew that it would just slither back to her face due to its beautiful straightness.

I checked my watch. Brilliant. Late for class. My sister, unlike me, has a free period this morning and I, unlike my sister, am late for class because I forgot that I do have a class this morning. Once again, go me.

Without another glance at Victoire, I hastily said goodbye and ran as fast as I could upstairs. Then when I turned the corner, I bumped hard into someone and fell on my butt.

“Who do you think you are, blasting people around damn corners like some sort of godforsaken dark wizard?!” I yelled at the guy without thinking. What? I was annoyed. Even if I am a boyish, clumsy girl, that doesn’t mean I let people push me around like that! Wait a minute, that’s-

Teddy Lupin.

He looked a little bit flustered and fairly concerned. “I’m so sorry, Dominique, I didn’t see you!” he said, offering me a hand. I took it gently, staring up at his eyes. He looks so cute when he’s worried and all.

I stood up, still clutching his hand. “Er, Dominique, you can let go of me now that you’re up.” He said. I instantly let go and blushed.

Remembering what Victoire said, I started talking, “So Teddy, what were you doing-”

“Blasting people around damn corners like some sort of godforsaken dark wizard?” he cut off. I looked at him. He had an eyebrow raised and he was grinning.

I blushed and mumbled, “Sorry about that, I thought you were some stuck up Slytherin skipping classes or something…” He laughed. His laugh is so nice, I love listening to it.

He then asked me, “What time is it? Isn’t it your first class already?” I froze. Great. Now I’m totally late.

“Right! I almost forgot! That’s why I was running, you see.” I said quickly, grabbing my bag. He was about to say something, probably to apologize for keeping me late but then I cut off, “It’s fine. I’ll see you later, Teddy!”

In my haste, all my bag plus the books and quills and parchment inside fell. I stooped down and picked up everything. Forgetting that Teddy was there, I said a well-chosen swear word. Suddenly, he said firmly, “I’ll do that for you.”

With a wave of his wand, everything was fixed. I smiled brightly at him and muttered gratefully, “Thank you, thank you!” And then I kissed him in the cheek. Take note, I was late and all my stuff fell, embarrassing myself in front of Teddy Lupin. So what else?

I realized what I’d done and ran off, not bothering to say goodbye or see what his reaction was due to my embarrassment. Brilliant, Dominique, brilliant. Everything would have been better if I had a free period this morning just like my greatest crush in the world Teddy Lupin and my oh-so-perfect sister Victoire Weasley.

Yes, well I was late for class. Let’s forge the details of Professor McGonagall getting mad at me and let’s skip to the horrible yet important events of dinner time.

Hmm… well, let’s see… where were we? Oh yeah- the important events of dinner time.

I was just eating and talking with my friends when I decided to see where Teddy was. He was at the other end of the table, talking with Lysander Scamander. He caught my eye and gave me a wink that made my heart melt. He then mouthed, "You alright over there?” I smiled and nodded, turning back to my friends.

After a while, someone tapped me on the shoulder. Well I, thinking it was Teddy, put down my goblet of pumpkin juice gracefully and turned around, batting my eyelashes. But no, it most definitely was not Teddy.

It was the most pathetic excuse for a cousin the world has ever given me- James Sirius Potter.

He laughed. I hate it when he laughs. “Dominique, Dominique, how love struck art thou, Dominique?” he asked me, trying valiantly to keep his face straight.

“Shut up, James. I bet you don’t even know what you’re saying. Now shove off and go back to your friends.” I snapped at him. He laughed again. I decided to add threateningly, “Or else I’ll tell Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny that all you did these past few weeks were blow up common rooms and have parties with girls in broom closets and-”

“Alright, alright!” he cut off, the smile on his face vanishing instantly. “But I was just going to help you with Ted. I know him, he’s a good friend. If you don’t want some advice then I’ll just go and beg more food from the house elves in the kitchen.”

I stared at him. Was he serious? And so he was. “Fine. What can you do for me?” I asked, rolling my eyes at him. “And make it snappy. You’re wasting my time.”

He pretended to look hurt and then grinned. “Alright then. I can help you. But because you are always so rude to me, you have to help me too.” He said, carefully choosing his words. Huh. What a coward. That proves he’s scared of me.

“So what do you want?” I asked impatiently. His face spread into a wide smile. Not good.

“You have to go to Quidditch practice with me and fly a broom with the rest of the team. It’s a dare, my dear cousin.” He said coolly, leaning on the table and winking at a few Hufflepuffs who were staring at him. They giggled.

I spluttered out some of the pumpkin juice in my mouth. “No! James, are you crazy?! No! You know I hate Quidditch-” He glared at me indignantly- “So no, I am definitely NOT doing it!”

He ran a hand through his hair and answered swiftly, “Fine. If you don’t want Teddy, then fine.”

I glared at him and said through gritted teeth, “What do you want? Why do you need me for Quidditch practice, anyway?”

“Easy. Hugo’s landed himself detention tomorrow night. We really need a substitute beater for practice.” He replied gleefully. “So will you do it or not? I’m telling you, Ted and I are close so I could easily tell you when he has his meals, when he goes to the library to study, and-”

“Fine, I’ll do it!” I yelled at him, highly annoyed. “But you better make sure that I don’t fall off a broom tomorrow night!” And without another word, I stomped out of the Great Hall furiously. The last thing I heard from James that night was his annoying laughter.

I could skip the following night if I could but you wouldn’t understand what could’ve happened if I did. So I have to tell you. And I’m warning you, it isn’t pretty.

I attempted to walk to the field in swift and calm strides but no, I lost my temper and stomped there, dragging my horrible cousin.

“Look, Dom, I’m not doing this to torture you!” he said loudly, trying to release himself from my vice-like grip. “I was just thinking that if you could be substitute beater in the team’s Quidditch practice and if I could help you get closer to Ted Lupin, then both of us could benefit from the- ouch, take it easy!- deal.”

I stopped and turned around. “James Sirius Potter, do you know how much I hate you right now?!” I screamed at him furiously. “A lot! Yes, you idiot, a lot! What do you think you’re saying, both of us could benefit from the deal?! Ha! As if! What you’re making me go through is worse!”

He ran a hand through his hair and grabbed the school broom I borrowed from me. “Fine. Let yourself stay distant from Teddy and die of lovesickness.” He said briskly, leaving me at the entrance of the Quidditch field.

“UUUGGGHH!!!! FINE! I’M GOING TO GO TO STUPID PRACTICE, BUT YOU BETTER PAY FOR THIS WELL, JAMES!!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. I grabbed the stupid broom from him and kicked off from the ground instantly.

Brilliant. I might fall and die an early death. You see, I am the worst at Quidditch. Yes, I can fly a little on a very decent amount of skill. But no, I have no clue on how to even dive, rocket upward, catch, hit, save a flying ball, let alone play the game itself. Hell, I can’t even fly as fast as anyone from the Gryffindor team.

Then I heard some people approach the field. The rest of the team. Great. They’ll see how horrible I am.

“Hey, Johnson!” I heard James call to one of them. It must be the captain, this Johnson guy I heard of. “I found a replacement for Hugo for tonight’s practice!”

Then there was a conversation down there that I wasn’t able to hear but there was one thing I can’t deny; James must be laughing in his mind right now.

“Let’s see what you’ve got. Potter says you’ve got a lot of flying talent yet only a little skill of beating. Here.” Then he threw a beater’s bat to me. I caught it a little clumsily, fumbling it before managing to secure it in my right hand.

James then started throwing a ball at Lorcan Scamander, who was the Keeper. I thought it was a Bludger so I flew to it when Johnson barked, “You! What are you doing? You’re supposed to hit the Bludger, not the Quaffle!”

I cursed my stupidity on Quidditch softly as I flew towards Molly. Molly is my other cousin, very quiet but friendly. She is also a Quidditch player. Chaser, to be exact.

“Hey Dominique! I didn’t think you were the type to play Quidditch!” she said cheerfully to me as I approached. Without waiting for a reply, she continued, “Johnson thinks that I’m such a good Chaser that I don’t need to practice much. He assigned me to help you beat.”

I nodded nervously. She started throwing the Bludger at me. I swung the bat, feeling foolish when I actually hit it.

But it hit Lorcan Scamander lightly on the head.

“Dom, what are you doing?! Swing to the left, you idiot!” James yelled over at me, trying to hide his laughter. “Molls, keep on letting her practice!” He then helped Lorcan reduce the swelling of the tiny lump on his head.

Molly nodded and flew quickly to get the Bludger. She threw it at me again and this time, I didn’t hit it.

We repeated the same method all over, sometimes hitting, sometimes not. But then Johnson, who was now proving to be a very strict Quidditch Captain, said that we would be playing the actual game.

James, Lorcan, Molly, Johnson, and two other people whom I don’t know flew to their positions. Johnson said impatiently, “Hey Demeter, station beside Finnegan! You’re a Beater!” I flew over beside this Irish guy who I knew must be Finnegan without bothering to correct his mistake on my name. Finn smiled at me but I ignored him, having been in a bad mood.

Johnson blew the whistle. I had no idea what was going on but when I saw a ball approach me, I hit it but then realized that it was a Quaffle. Johnson yelled at me for lack of effort but I didn’t care. How do you know the differences between a Quaffle and a Bludger?!

Suddenly, I saw a speck of gold fly somewhere around my left ear. James was then flying towards me as fast as a cheetah, about to catch the Skitch (or whatever it was called) but then he bumped me lightly on the shoulder. I, having a very sensitive touch, lost balance and almost fell when I grabbed the handle in panic. Stupid cousin, he almost made me fall!

“James…” I growled. He noticed me and was about to laugh when his face spread into a look of alarm. “Dominique, the Bludger!” he shouted, flying to me quickly but it was too late.

I felt a huge ball hit my shoulder and fell, landing on a bush of thorns.

When I woke up, I was in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was tapping my bandaged shoulder with her wand and holding a small bottle in her other hand.

“Madam Pomfrey, where’s everyone else?” I asked groggily, sitting up.

She put back her wand in her pocket and shoved the bottle in my hand. “The rest of the team left but I think Mr. Potter is waiting outside.” She replied. “I suggest you stay for the night. That was unlucky of you, falling from a Bludger-hit shoulder and landing on a thorn bush.”

“No, I’m fine!” I said impatiently, drinking the liquid in one gulp and standing up instantly. “I don’t care if I have pains in my shoulder; you bandaged it, healed it, and let me take a potion already!”

She nodded reluctantly and let me go outside. I spotted James leaning on a wall and approached him.

“Oh hey, cousin!” he said cheerfully. Then he dropped his happy act. “Look, I’m sorry, alright? I just wanted to practice well and yes, I admit that I wanted to see you humiliated a bit. But I’m sorry.”

James, my cousin saying- sorry?! The world is ending. “I-its fine, James.” I said in surprise. “But you-”

“He’s in the library right now if you want to see him. Just make sure you don’t act too flirty or shy because he hates girls like that. Don’t be nervous, just act like yourself because he knows when he makes someone nervous. It makes him nervous too." He recited quickly all in one breath.

"And always be kind and friendly, he’ll like that. Express yourself well because that signifies a strong personality and don’t always act so full of yourself at times. Just… just be his friend.” Then he added as an afterthought, “Good luck with Teddy.”

It seemed as if he memorized this by heart. I smiled and hugged him. “Thanks a lot, James! You may be an annoying prat but you do know how to make up for your mistakes! You could be a great cousin.” I told him. He grinned.

“That’s me.” He said proudly and then he pushed me towards the stairs. “Now what are you waiting for?! Go!”

I rushed up the stairs and reached the outside of the library in a few minutes, almost running into Peeves, who was splashing slime on the walls. My shoulder was throbbing painfully but I didn’t mind it and entered the library quietly.

I looked around and decided to go to the Advanced Spells section. Teddy seems like the person who’d read those kinds of books. I scanned the whole aisle but didn’t find him. Then I turned the corner just beyond the shelf and bumped right into Teddy Lupin himself.

“Oh, Dominique! We should stop meeting each other around corners like this, you know.” He said earnestly, shaking his head. I chuckled.

“Right. I, er, went here because I was having some difficulty in Advanced Spells. I just wanted to study, you know.” I explained convincingly, smiling at him and batting my eyelashes.

He grinned. “You can study with me. I could say that I’m pretty good at spells, charms, and transfiguration.” He told me. “Well, I don’t mean to brag or anything but- yeah, you can study with me.”

I nodded and then he grabbed my hand (I was squealing happily in my head), leading me to the table beside the window. “This is my favorite place to study in the library. I can see what’s going on outside.” He said fondly, sitting down and getting a book entitled Advanced Spells of the Ages.

“Looks nice.” I said, sitting down in front of him and grabbing a random book absentmindedly, my eyes still on his face.

He then started explaining advanced magic like the Unforgivable Curses, Patronus Charms, Non-Verbal Spells, and all those other whatnot. Most of the time, I was gazing at him. There was something so delicious about his chocolate brown eyes and his sandy hair.

Suddenly, I heard a small thump and turned around. James and Victoire were both getting a small stack of books from the Advanced Potions shelf. I knew they would be spying on me. Now they’ll see how well I can handle boys like Teddy Lupin.

“So Dominique, do you understand the theory about the non-verbal spells?” Teddy asked me, brushing away a few strands of sandy hair falling onto his face. “It might be a little hard but you could master it quickly, I believe in you.”

I smiled and said sweetly, “Don’t worry, Ted, I completely understand. I really appreciate you helping me.” He nodded and grinned, snapping his book shut.

He came closer and put his hands on the table, holding mine and I could hear a tiny gasp from the shelf behind me. Hah. I knew I could get close to Teddy Lupin if I wanted to.

Then his mouth formed the words that many girls would want to hear. I watched as his chocolate brown eyes moved into mine and listened intently as he said, “Dominique, you’re a really nice girl.”

I nodded as if to tell him to go on. “And I just want to ask you.” He continued. I waited with bated breath for the moment. The moment he would ask me out. “Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?”

I was about to say yes when the stabbing pains in my arm went back and instead of saying a firm, joyful ‘yes’, it ended up with a loud ‘argh’.

“Aaaarrrgghh!!” I said audibly, letting to of Teddy’s hand and clutching my arm. He looked at my arm in surprise and said concernedly, “Are you okay, Dominique?”

I shook my head as a no and he grabbed my other arm to bring me back to the Hospital Wing. As we were exiting the library, I heard a soft chuckle and slightly turned my head to the side. James was shaking with silent laughter while Victoire was watching me worriedly.

She approached with my good-for-nothing cousin trailing behind her and she asked, “You alright, Dom?”

I didn’t say anything and Teddy replied for me, “Her arm started hurting badly so we need to take her to the Hospital Wing.” I smiled at him appreciatively but it turned out to be a grimace of pain as my shoulder went back to throbbing painfully.

The four of us went as quickly as we could to the Hospital Wing as James tried to tell the story of Quidditch practice to Teddy and Victoire without laughing. I could kill that stupid idiot anytime. If only my arm would stop hurting now.

When we entered the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey instantly started fussing over me and muttering about ‘dangerous sports’ and ‘careless students’. James then said in an annoying singsong voice, “You should have followed Madam Pomfrey and stayed for the night, Dommykins!”

I growled and started sitting up to hit him when Teddy let me lie down. “Dominique, you shouldn’t have gone to Quidditch practice even if some- er- sources were telling you to.” He said, glaring slightly at James. I smirked. “You didn’t need to ask James or Victoire to help you get a date with me. You know I like you already.”

I looked up and stared straight into his chocolate brown eyes. “Y-you mean it?” I asked incredulously in barely a whisper. He nodded. I jumped up and hugged him. Victoire smiled and cheered.

Teddy then carefully moved into my face, kissing me full in the lips. James wolf-whistled. I ignored him and said to Teddy, “Yes, I will go to Hogsmeade with you.”
He grinned widely and kissed me again. “Could you guys go get a broom closet?” James mumbled faintly. His voice hardened into a yell. “We’re in the Hospital Wing, you know that, you idiots?!”

We broke apart slowly and I slapped James lightly on the face due to annoyance. Teddy and Victoire laughed. I then sat back down tiredly, taking the wound-healing potion Madam Pomfrey left for me.

“But Dominique, you ought to have learned something due to these past few events.” Victoire told me sycophantically. I turned to her, puzzled. She smiled. “Every Dominique has its thorn.” She finished, her smile turning into a soft laugh.

I stared at the three of them as they all began to laugh. Teddy suddenly pulled me up and kissed me again. James groaned. I giggled softly and whispered, “Yes, I know, every Dominique does have its own thorn.”